BJP maintains its dominance in U’khand

Dehradun: The BJP on Tuesday swept Uttarakhand for the third consecutive time in Lok Sabha elections, winning or leading in all five seats in a mainly bipolar contest with the Congress.

With the victory, the party which has bagged 56.8 per cent votes has cemented its dominance in the hill state where it had routed the Congress in the 2017 and 2022 Assembly polls. The Congress got 32.8 per cent votes

Union Minister of State for Defence and Tourism Ajay Bhatt won the Nainital-Udham Singh Nagar Lok Sabha seat in Uttarakhand, defeating Congress’ Prakash Joshi by 3,34,548 votes,

In the Haridwar seat, former Uttarakhand chief minister and BJP candidate Trivendra Singh Rawat defeated Congress’ Virender Rawat by 1,64,056 votes to make it to the Lok Sabha for the first time.

Virender Rawat is the son of former Uttarakhand chief minister and veteran Congress leader Harish Rawat.

BJP’s Ajay Tamta, a former Union minister, is ahead of Congress’ Pradeep Tamta by 2,25,893 votes in the reserved Almora Lok Sabha seat.

BJP’s national media in-charge and party candidate Anil Baluni has taken a lead of 1,55,839 votes against former Uttarakhand Congress president and party candidate Ganesh Godiyal in the Pauri Garhwal Lok Sabha seat

In the Tehri Lok Sabha seat, BJP’s Mala Rajya Lakshmi Shah won against nearest rival Congress’ Jot Singh Gunsola by 2,72,493 votes.

This is the fourth consecutive time that the erstwhile Tehri royal has won from the seat.

The BJP’s 5-0 win for the consecutive third term can thwart the comeback bid of the Congress which has been drawing a blank in the state since the 2014 general elections, besides being routed by the BJP in 2017 and 2022 Assembly polls.

As the BJP headed for a big win in Uttarakhand, Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami arrived at the party office here on Balbir Road to take part in the celebrations.

Dhami who had been among the star campaigners of the party was accorded a rousing welcome by party leaders and workers.